1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to aircraft and, in particular, to displaying information used to control the movement of aircraft. Still more particularly, the present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for displaying information for controlling the movement of unmanned aerial vehicles.
2. Background
Many aircraft have navigation displays for displaying information used to operate an aircraft. These navigation displays may display maps to an operator of the aircraft for use in operating the aircraft. These maps may include information, such as terrain, weather, airspace geometry, navigation aids, wind, routes, direction of travel, and other types of information. These types of displays are typically in the form of a map displayed in a top-down view. An icon representing the aircraft is typically displayed on a map in a location representing the current location of the aircraft.
Operators of an aircraft may also use other types of displays in a navigation system. For example, the operator may use a vertical situation profile display. This type of display may include information about terrain, attitude, and other information with respect to the aircraft. An icon representing the aircraft is displayed in a vertical position on the map indicating the altitude of the aircraft. Further, terrain ahead of the direction of travel of the aircraft also may be displayed on a vertical situation profile display.
Operators may also operate multiple aircraft using navigation displays. For example, the operator may be an air traffic control system operator managing multiple aircraft. In another instance, the operator may operate multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
When an operator manages multiple aircraft, such as unmanned aerial vehicles, displaying the route of the aircraft may not be as useful as desired in a top-down or vertical situation profile view. For example, unmanned aerial vehicles may have pre-planned routes. These pre-planned routes may be displayed on a top-down view of the unmanned aerial vehicles. The routes may overlap on this view of the unmanned aerial vehicles in some cases.
With this top-down view, an operator, however, may not know whether the overlap occurs at the same point in time. As a result, the display of routes for multiple unmanned aerial vehicles may not be as useful as desired for an operator of the unmanned aerial vehicles. Therefore, it would be desirable to have a method and apparatus that takes into account at least some of the issues discussed above as well as other possible issues.